#ABArare – Bahama Woodstar – Florida

More from Florida, which has to be reaching rare bird saturation at some point. On May 14, Mitchell Harris found a likely female-type ABA Code 5 Bahama Woodstar at Maritime Hammock Sanctuary in Brevard, Florida.

Photos from back of camera: Mitchell Harris

Maritime Hammock is near the town of Melbourne, Florida, on the sea side of Indian River Lagoon. From Interstate 95, take exit 180 for Melbourne. Follow US 192 east 8 miles through downtown and continue over the causeway to Indialantic. When the highway ends at the beach, turn right and follow A1A for 10.3 miles, passing a variety of public beaches en route to the community of Melbourne Beach. Park at the north trailhead (you’ll have to pull across the bicycle path to do so, so watch for pedestrians and bicycles). Hours are 7 AM to 8 PM.

This is potentially the 6th record of Bahama Woodstar for the ABA Area. All but one record comes from Florida, the most recent in 1981 in Miami-Dade. In 2013, though, a Bahama Woodstar was discovered visiting a feeder in eastern Pennsylvania, one of the more extraordinary record of any bird in the ABA Area.

Nate Swick

Nate Swick is the editor of the American Birding Association Blog, social media manager for the ABA, and the host of the American Birding Podcast. He lives in Greensboro, North Carolina, with his wife, Danielle, and two young children. He is the author of Birding for the Curious and The ABA Field Guide to Birds of the Carolinas.

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